@article{6b117e33a88b40b0b07033830f4a9d03,
title = "Microsecond interaural time difference discrimination restored by cochlear implants after neonatal deafness",
abstract = "Spatial hearing in cochlear implant (CI) patients remains a major challenge, with many early deaf users reported to have no measurable sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs). Deprivation of binaural experience during an early critical period is often hypothesized to be the cause of this shortcoming. However, we show that neonatally deafened (ND) rats provided with precisely synchronized CI stimulation in adulthood can be trained to lateralize ITDs with essentially normal behavioral thresholds near 50 ms. Furthermore, comparable ND rats show high physiological sensitivity to ITDs immediately after binaural implantation in adulthood. Our result that ND-CI rats achieved very good behavioral ITD thresholds, while prelingually deaf human CI patients often fail to develop a useful sensitivity to ITD raises urgent questions concerning the possibility that shortcomings in technology or treatment, rather than missing input during early development, may be behind the usually poor binaural outcomes for current CI patients.",
author = "Nicole Rosskothen-Kuhl and Buck, {Alexa N.} and Kongyan Li and Schnupp, {Jan W.H.} and Lina Reiss",
note = "Funding Information: We thank A Hyun Jung for assisting behavioral training of CI rats, P Ruther and the Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks-BrainTools (German Research Foundation, grant number EXC1086) for the support with recording electrodes. Work leading to this publication was supported by grants from the Hong Kong General Research Fund (11100219) and Medical Research Fund (06172296), the Shenzhen Science and Innovation Fund (JCYJ20180307124024360), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement n° 605728 (PRIME - Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience), and friends{\textquoteright} association {\textquoteleft}Taube Kinder lernen h{\"o}ren e V{\textquoteright}. The article processing charge was funded by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art and the University of Freiburg in the funding programme Open Access Publishing. Funding Information: We thank A Hyun Jung for assisting behavioral training of CI rats, P Ruther and the Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks-BrainTools (German Research Foundation, grant number EXC1086) for the support with recording electrodes. Work leading to this publication was supported by grants from the Hong Kong General Research Fund (11100219) and Medical Research Fund (06172296), the Shenzhen Science and Innovation Fund (JCYJ20180307124024360), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement n˚ 605728 (PRIME – Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience), and friends{\textquoteright} association {\textquoteright}Taube Kinder lernen h{\"o}ren e V{\textquoteright}. The article processing charge was funded by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art and the University of Freiburg in the funding programme Open Access Publishing. Funding Information: Hong Kong Government Gen eral Research Fund (GRF) Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Rosskothen-Kuhl et al.",
year = "2021",
month = jan,
doi = "10.7554/eLife.59300",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "10",
pages = "1--22",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}